Nephropathy, commonly known as kidney damage, is caused by, among others, diabetes, high blood pressure, drug toxicity, and inflammation.
Typically, nephropathy is diagnosed by determining the level of proteinuria (e.g., the level of urine albumin), or by examining the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), an indicator of renal function. Both approaches are not suitable for detecting early stage nephropathy, which typically displays no symptoms. While nephropathy can also be detected by renal biopsy, this invasive procedure is not an ideal diagnostic approach.
It is of great importance to develop a method for detecting early stage nephropathy. The key to achieving this goal is to identify reliable biomarkers associated with incipient nephropathy.